Navigating the rise of rural living in provincial New Zealand

The dream of spacious living and a connection to rural life is alive and thriving.

While a lot is made of the post-COVID-19 effect in driving unprecedented lifestyle demand in 2020, and to be fair, there were a lot of chicken coops sold that year, lifestyle block sales were already on the up, given pressure on NZ’s housing stock was a problem then and is still a problem now. Dial forward to today, and lifestyle block sales (up to 20ha) are running at just under 5000 sales annually, back from the peak of 8,800 in 2021. We expect lifestyle sales volumes to continue to recover throughout 2024.

Trading up for a foothold on the property ladder

Our team at Property Brokers looks to serve the entire lifestyle market, which is typically defi ned as up to 20ha. However, we deal in many transactions below 50 hectares where the ‘farm’ is a secondary income source, plus the family home.

There has been a big opportunity in recent years, and no less so than now, to trade up smaller lifestyle holdings to gain a foothold on the rural property ladder. There are some excellent examples of this in our current Land & Lifestyle property guide, which is why we put the two together.

Opportunities and trends

About 50%of lifestyle sales in any given year are in the 1-5ha category (REINZ data). Typically, when you get past a hectare, you move from chicken rancher and how big the ride-on mower is to more traditional livestock, paddocks, water and other things. This is where the investment in yards, shearing equipment, calf shelters and farm sheds (3-phase power) start to become a factor in our sale process, in addition to the nearest school zoning.

We take great pride in supporting this end of the market; often, clients are very genuine about their commitment to the land but want advice on the best options. These are high-value assets and, with the right approach, can create real wealth and opportunities to progress as highlighted in the table (data sourced from REINZ). The median price per hectare has increased from $283,000 in 2019 to $403,000 in 2023, and there is every expectation this median will continue to track up as interest rates moderate. Notably, these values have held up very well through the most challenging economic crunch since the GFC.

Property solutions from lifestyle to rural living

At Property Brokers, we cater to everything from your dream lifestyle property in Wanaka or Cambridge, right up to your first crack at getting on the rural property ladder well past the city limits. We have dedicated lifestyle specialists and a team of rural and residential sales consultants with proven experience in lifestyle sales. With genuine rural lifestyle sales, getting advice on compliance and consents and how the water is sourced should never be taken for granted.

Our advice is to get advice, and we have no hesitation recommending our team to take you on a journey to either purchase or sell your lifestyle property.

Whether you are looking to buy or sell your farm or lifestyle property, we have the team to exceed your expectations, and with a great mix of energy and experience on your side, you can’t go past Property Brokers.

Conrad Wilkshire, GM Rural for Property Brokers Ltd

Have a listen to our latest podcast episode on Property Perspectives where we delve into the latest rural market insights